With the portal, the NFL draft closed, these Texas football players are returning

On January 18, 2025By Littum

With Quinn Ewers’ announcement Wednesday that he intends to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2025 NFL draft, Texas football can finally begin some concrete planning for the offseason.

And those plans apparently include edge rusher Trey Moore, cornerback Malik Muhammad and every other Texas player who either wanted to declare for the NFL draft or submit his name to the transfer portal.

Draft-eligible players who played on teams competing in the College Football Playoff semifinals had until the end of Wednesday to submit their names to the NFL draft pool.

All players competing in the playoffs had five days from the end of their collegiate season in 2024 to enter their names on the transfer portal, which meant the transfer deadline for Texas also came at the end of Wednesday when the Longhorns fell to Ohio State 28-14 Friday in an Arlington-based CFP semifinal.

Moore and Muhammad are two notable Texas players who appear to be returning, although a spring transfer window will open for 10 days starting on April 16. Moore said in a meeting with reporters during the 2024 season that playing in the NFL remains a goal, but he never indicated whether he intended to enter the 2025 draft.

A 6-foot-3, 245-pound fourth-year linebacker with one more season of eligibility remaining, Moore arrived with high expectations from UTSA and quietly turned in a strong season with 36 tackles, 10½ tackles for a loss and 6½ sacks , starting all 16 games for Texas. He was projected as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent in 2025 by various draft analysts.

Muhammad, a 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore, enjoyed a breakout season in his first year as the full-time starter opposite All-American Jahdae Barron. He tallied 36 tackles and broke up eight passes without an interception. Although several cryptic posts on social media hinted at NIL concerns, Muhammad will apparently serve as an anchor in the secondary along with safety Michael Taaffe, an All-American who announced earlier this week that he intends to return to his final years of eligibility.

Texas lost several starters to early entry in the NFL draft, including Ewers, receivers Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden, offensive lineman Cameron Williams and running back Jaydon Blue. Taaffe and offensive lineman DJ Campbell were the NFL draft prospects who announced this week that they planned to return to Texas.

The deadline to opt out of the NFL draft for those players who have previously declared themselves eligible is February 7th.

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